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Topic: Official Artist Alley FAQ - 2010 (Read 19646 times)

The list is not exhaustive and can be expanded as need arises. If you wish to see something added to this list, PM me.

Are we getting 10x10 booths again for 2010?Yes.Each Artist Alley space is a 10’ x 10’ booth that includes one (1) table (approximately 8’ x 30”) and two (2) chairs. Power is not included this year. You can purchase it for additional fee.

Am I allowed to move the table, have additional tables and/or freestanding displays?Absolutely.You can bring additional tables and stands. Please be aware that any freestanding table displays can only be four (4) feet. Any other displays must be approved by manager.

Can I sell fan art?Yes. As long as you composed it by your own hand (no tracing or related activities), you are allowed to sell your own work as long as it does not violate any copyright laws. If there is any infringements, you will be require to remove it.

I produce my own products, is that considered commercial production?No. Anything that you produce with your own hands (physically or design and sent to a small company to produce for you) is perfect for Artist Alley. However, products produced by a company not owned by you or you did not have any hand in the design is not okay.

Am I required to tear down everyday, or is my table secure overnight?The space is closed every night along with the Dealer's Hall. All access doors are secured and patrolled during off-hours.

Is table sharing allow?Absolutely. Even though AA will have more tables this year, we always end up with more artists then there is space. There is always newbies..um... new artists wanting to get in for the first time. It is always a fabulous idea to share with friends, new and old alike to maximize variety, space and experience. Besides, it gets exhausting working your table by yourself all three days.

Can I have more then four people at my booth?You can have up to three additional Artist Alley badges purchased with your booth, but this does not restrict how many total can be selling at any one time. If you have a group of friends, or if you want represent other artists,that is fine. But please talk to the AA manager first so she can help you with any details. Anyone beyond the three Artist Alley badges that comes with the table will need to pre-register through the website or at the door. They will also not be allowed to be in the AA before or after hours.

Can I display my yaoi/hentai or otherwise adult material?No. you can have adult material at your table, but it must not be available for minors to see, touch or otherwise experience. You may have a sign stating that you have such materials and once you have checked their ID, they can see it. The AA manager will also distribute pin-back buttons that will roughly state "please ask me about my adult material" that you can wear. Please refer to the contract details about the consequences of any violation of this requirement. If you still have questions, please contact the AA manager.

I was wondering if there was a map for where dealer and AA tables are? I'm kind of undecided between the two locations, dealer or AA, and the placement of the two would help me decide. :3 Also, for dealers, is it possible to pay extra for a corner location?

PVC frames are fine as long as they do not exceed 4 feet. We mostly don't want something so tall that it might become unstable and collapse. I am not necessarily going to go around with a measuring tape, so please use common sense in creating your displays.

We are excited to try this out, I have a few quick questions, thought I am sure there will be more

~~How do we sign up? Do we e-mail for an Artist Ally contract? Is there something else we need to do before or after that?

~~Badges are available when you sign up as an artist? How much are each reduced badge? When do I order them Will it be with the contract?~~What do spaces come with? Pipe and drape yes? But what type of pipe is that? How much of that pipe is available? and not to sound stupid but…what is it used for

~~I read somewhere about a conflict selling food stuffs, are we allowed to sell food? If so, what are the restrictions on that? Store bought? (Brand name and or Knock off brand) Hand made? If not, then curiosity says why not?

I would just like to post some constructive criticism on the way this was handled. Its slightly complaining, but mostly just an observation. For next year you may want to keep the main webpage updated with when the tables are going to be going on sale, because this year is said feb, and I know there where contract issues but that should have been updated. Also having a link to the main threads for getting information in this forum posted along with the updated release. I am stating this because until the "release" of the table I did not know that AA info was in here and looked under general convention. Also not everyone can look on the forums everyday to see whether a post saying the tables were up has been posted. It would be nice to set a date and post it on the main webpage and as a sticky, on both this section of the forum and the general section, as the general section is where most people go to look for information right off the bat. Announcing what the date of sale will be prior to the actual sale of the tables would be extremly helpful for those of us who are not able to visit the forums everyday. If this happened, then im sorry for my ignorance, but I did not see it, and I am assuming others did not either.

Just things to be taken into consideration for following years because as your convention grows, your techniques will need to advance and evolve in a more organized and encompassing fashion.

I hope this didnt come off as rude, I am just letting you know my 2 cents and ideas that I think would make the process more, well fair and whatnots because it seems that getting and AA table this year was fairly cryptic, mostly with when the tables would actually go on sale, and with a convention that is the size of kumori and growing, the information needs to be more readily available and easier to find.

I appreciate voicing your concern and it is noted. Last year, I had the contracts ready by February and that seemed to be the case for 2010. It ended up taking a little long ironing the details before it even got to me, which was last week. Once I got those, I had information posted on the website about the spaces. I opened the AA later that week on Friday. People seemed ready and I had emails piling up in my inbox so I saw no reason to hold of opening up the AA. I was a afraid what may happened if I kept the spaces away from you guys any longer.

And to be fair, we had a lot of people interested in the AA, more so then ever before. We expanded as much as space would allow but I did not know that so many people would be racing for a space. It took several days last year for spaces to fill up. This year, it took less then 12 hours. So many a new system needs to be taken into consideration in how tables are obtained.

So to all of those who did not get a table, I am sorry. I will do what I can, but we have only so many spaces and too much talent. Perhaps you all can think about what you would like to see for 2011? Maybe the system we have been using for the past years is getting obsolete? But let's keep this thread open to general questions. I will open an official thread for this discussion later in the year. I am interested in hearing your experiences.

I'm thinking maybe we should have a separate area for Artist Alley completely? Although I think this was attempted before with poor results since it is the exhibitors hall that gets the most attention. Either way it definitely needs to be bigger. The Hilton is just too small (which is pretty cool that Kumoricon is that popular. I remember back in 2004 when yadda yadda yadda...)

Or maybe those who were in last year will get an early start with the contract and a week to return it. If there's no response in a week, then the contract is forfeited to chance (meaning they still can get in but with the masses rather than the returning artists).

Perhaps the most friendly option to everyone is to have open access to the contract, but the first ones to return the contract along with full payment get in. That way a lot of people have a chance, and its a matter of devotion to being in Artist Alley rather than an amusing "What if" idea.

Knowing a definite time when the table registration would open would be a definite help, I checked every day but not at the right TIME of day Friday evening. Had I known when they were open, I could've been more on top of it. If I check at 5 or in the morning and it says the same thing it said every day prior, but I missed my chance because they opened at 6 and by 7am were gone? Big bummer.

We are in the opinion that we'd to be a part of artist ally and we don't mind paying more in advance so long as we get the 100% clear for a table in reserve.

Heck even half a table would be more then enough space, but between the quick grab of them all, and the fact that my timing was to find out that after months of checking the site, and tweet, and trying my hardest to keep in connection, that the one day we couldn't get online until 10pm (this being that Friday) that the tables were all taken.

All this left us very stressed, and while we are still hopeful that one will open or someone will be willing to share, such a fast lock out is disheartening.

Again, we are still, holding out the hope that someone will back out and we can step in, and if he need to do some flexibility or calling for favors we are there, but this unknown sudden shift to "sign up is coming" straight to "Full" it just seems so mean.

Couldn't tell you how to make a better system mind.

But an actively updating list of where we stand may be nice, some signal that if x people are out then we may be in?

Posting a set time and date for tables opening would have only prolonged the process. I was under the impression they were put up very shortly after all of the information was in order.

And the main exhibitors page stated that tables would be opening before they were actually up. So even if the warning was short, it did exist.

I think the situation was handled in the best way it could have been under the circumstances, since the registration had already been delayed a couple of months. Had time been taken to set a date, and wait for people to check the site and become aware of it, we probably wouldn't have been able to get tables until May. And those on the wait list would not have been notified until late June if they were to get a table because someone didn't turn in their contract.

If the tables had lasted a few days, or even weeks like they had in the past, I doubt anyone would be upset over this. But as the convention grows, interest in the artists alley will as well. Past experience is no reason to be relaxed in waiting for the tables, because it's always going to be different.

Personally, I'm fond of Sakuracon's online table registration, though it's much more impersonal. Anime Expo's system is nice as well, because they open tables, but send out the contract later. Perhaps that would be an option to consider if delays like this happen again in the future. Though I'm not sure if that would be applicable, since I don't exactly know what sort of things need to happen before you can accept people for the artists alley.

And Evaldas, sorry for posting this after you asked to keep this thread just for questions.I just wanted to get my two cents in, since everyone else seems to be.

No prob, Scream Aim Fire. You brought up some great counter points. The reason I don't open tables before contracts is that info about the price, size and amount of table is inclusive of the said contract. I would not want to promise tables and then have to change details later.Also I did not want to sit on them any long as it would have prolong the already delayed process. Plus I wanted to the deadline to be sooner so that way if there are any openings for the Waiting list, there is plenty of time for them to prepare for the con.

I would like to have some closing remark and would like to ask that this is discussion is continued at a later date on a thread I will open at that point. I am posting up details that Director of Relations and I have discussed here shortly in another thread that should help explain few issues that people have brought up.

I have to say that I'm really disappointed. I've been waiting... two years... to get an Artist Alley table, and been denied both times - simply because I have never had a chance to even submit the form, or even SEE a possible form to submit, or any information about the Artist Alley until it's too late (Nothing even came up in SEARCH). I realize that there are a lot of people trying to get in and whatnot, but I don't think it's really fair for those who have been waiting a long time, and WHAM, gone in a couple of hours, without even a consideration or a possible form to turn in.

Is there any way to fix this, or at least make it a random pick raffle type sort of deal? That way EVERYONE has a slight chance and it's not just first come first serve??

Raine, sorry that you feel jilted. I would like to encourage everyone again to think about submitting work into the Art Show. You have have a print shop there for prints, 2D and 3D art. I post the info and forms once those are available.

The difference between Artist Alley and Dealers Hall is price and insurance. You pay more for the same space, plus you need to provide proof of insurance to be in the Dealers Hall.

As for Art Show, it is open to everyone. You do not need to be registered or have a table to be in the art show. In years past, all you needed to do is pay either a minimal fee or allow the staff to take a small commission to display your work. Beyond being able to display work is that there will be a print shop where you can have prints available for sale. This is a perfect opportunity to sell prints and other 2D and 3D work if you didn't or won't be getting a table.

Anyone can back out at any time and we do have a policy if people do not check in by 12pm Saturday of the convention, I have the right to sell it to anyone who can pay and fill it. We have problems in the past with people not showing up or actually abandoning their tables mid-show. I do not want a repeat of that, so this policy will remain in play. However, it is also not a guarantee that something will open up at all. Last year, everyone showed up and checked in on time.

Yup. I currently have a length waiting list. I am waiting for two people to turn in their forms, so there might be some openings, but pending any last minute no-shows or cancellations, the AA is filled for 2010.